On December 29, 1993, inmates at the Massachusetts Correctional Institution at Concord filed a class action lawsuit under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 against the Massachusetts Department of Corrections in the Superior Court of Massachusetts, Suffolk County. The plaintiffs alleged that their constitutional ... read more >

On December 29, 1993, inmates at the Massachusetts Correctional Institution at Concord filed a class action lawsuit under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 against the Massachusetts Department of Corrections in the Superior Court of Massachusetts, Suffolk County. The plaintiffs alleged that their constitutional rights had been violated by the institution's extreme overcrowding, inadequate facilities, and inadequate provisions of clothing.

On July 13, 1995, the Superior Court of Massachusetts (Judge Patrick J. King) certified two classes of plaintiffs in the lawsuit (a class of all present and future pretrial detainees and a class of all present and future prisoners who are not pre-trial detainees) and granted the plaintiffs' preliminary injunctions. Cohen v. DiPaolo 1995 WL 419942 (Mass.Super. July 13, 1995). The court scheduled a status conference on September 21, 1995 to discuss completion of discovery in the case and to set a trial date. We have no further information on the proceedings of this case.